Police continue investigation into crash that sent pedestrian to hospital

Police say they are still investigating a motor vehicle crash that sent a pedestrian to the hospital with life-threatening injuries last Saturday night.

A 25-year-old local man was struck by a 2000 Dodge Dakota pickup truck as he tried to cross Mendenhall Loop Road at the Back Loop Road intersection. The man was taken to Bartlett Regional Hospital and then later flown to The Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage.

Police did not release the man’s name and did not have an update about his medical condition as of Friday. Hospitals generally do not provide medical status updates for patients unless a name is provided.

Lt. David Campbell, a spokesman for the Juneau Police Department, said police are still working to determine who was at fault and whether criminal charges or a citation will be forthcoming.

The driver of the truck, also a 25-year-old man, was traveling southbound on Mendenhall Loop Road at the time of the crash, which took place at about 7:08 p.m. The driver is the person who called 911.

The driver, whose name has not been released, told police he could not see the pedestrian because it was dark outside and the pedestrian was wearing all black, Campbell said. The pedestrian was also not walking in a crosswalk — there isn’t one at that intersection, Campbell said.

The pedestrian was found knocked unconscious, but breathing when police arrived on scene. Campbell said the pedestrian might have been intoxicated at the time. He said a responding officer smelled the odor of alcohol on his breath.

Police are still actively investigating: an accident re-constructionist was at the scene earlier this week, and another investigator applied for a search warrant to obtain medical records from the hospital. On Friday, an investigator was making arrangements to interview the pedestrian.

“We’re still in the process of doing the investigation to determine who was at fault, basically,” Campbell said.